International tourism bounced back to 96% of pre-pandemic levels in seven months to July 2024, driven by strong demand in Europe and re-opening of markets in Asia and the Pacific.

This is according to the latest World Tourism Barometer by UN Tourism, highlighting around 790 million tourists travelled internationally in the first seven months of 2024 – about 11% more than in 2023 and only 4% less than in 2019.

Data shows a strong start to the year, followed by a more modest second quarter. Results are in line with UN Tourism’s projection of a full recovery in international arrivals in 2024 despite ongoing economic and geopolitical risks.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “International tourism is on track to consolidate its full recovery from the biggest crisis in the sector’s history. The ongoing rebound comes despite a range of economic and geopolitical challenges, highlighting strong demand for international travel as well as the effectiveness of boosting air connections and easing visa restrictions.

“This recovery also highlights the growing need for tourism planning and management to cater for its impacts on communities in a way that the immense socio-economic benefits are paired with inclusive and sustainable policies.”

With increased air connectivity and visa facilitation supporting the recovery in international travel, the data shows all world regions recorded a strong year so far.

Africa saw 7% growth

• The Middle East remained the strongest-growing region in relative terms with international arrivals climbing 26% above 2019 levels in the first seven months of 2024.
• Africa welcomed 7% more tourists than in the same months of 2019.
• Europe and the Americas recovered 99% and 97% of their pre-pandemic arrivals respectively during these seven months.
• Asia and the Pacific recorded 82% of pre-pandemic tourist numbers (-18% versus 2019) reaching 85% in June and 86% in July.

A total of 67 out of 120 destinations around the world recovered 2019 arrival numbers in the first half of 2024 (based on countries reporting monthly or quarterly data).

Tanzania saw 49% growth in June.

Receipts and expenditure show even stronger results

Regarding international tourism receipts, 47 out of 63 countries with available data recovered pre-pandemic values in the first six months of 2024 – many reporting strong double-digit growth compared to 2019 (in local currencies and current prices).

Data on international tourism expenditure reveals strong demand for outbound travel in January-July 2024, especially from large source markets such as the United States (+32%), Germany (+38%) and the United Kingdom (+40% through March) compared to the same period of 2019.

Strong outbound spending was also reported by Australia (+34%), Canada (+28%) and Italy (+26%) through June 2024. Limited data for India shows an impressive surge in outbound spending with 86% growth in the first quarter of 2024 (versus the first quarter of 2019).

Revised data for 2023 shows export revenues from international tourism reached US$1.8 trillion (including receipts and passenger transport) – virtually the same as before the pandemic (-1% in real terms compared to 2019).

Tourism direct GDP also recovered pre-pandemic levels in 2023, reaching an estimated US$ 3.4 trillion – equivalent to 3% of global GDP. In 2019, tourism directly contributed to 4% of global GDP.

Positive finish to 2024 expected though challenges remain

The UN Tourism Confidence Index shows positive expectations for the last part of the year at 120 points for September-December 2024 although below the prospects for May-August, which was 130 points (on a scale of 0 to 200 where 100 reflects equal expected performance).

Some 47% of tourism experts participating in the confidence survey expect better performance for the sector in the last four months of 2024 while 41% project similar performance and 11% worse. This reflects a gradual normalisation of tourism performance after a strong 2023.

Experts pointed to inflation in travel and tourism, namely high transport and accommodation prices, as the main challenge the tourism sector is currently facing as well as the global economic situation, staff shortages and extreme weather events.